The Russian Dive Show

Diving centres and manufactures were all gathered at the Moscow Dive show to display their products and services to eager Russian divers. The PADI Redistribution Centre was present at the show providing information and products to divers and PADI members. The Russian Member Forum was also conducted during the show with record attendance by PADI members. The Diving Ru group were present at the show conducting DSD's in their purpose built tank.

Short on time? Let EVE change that for you.

If you own or run a dive centre do you have the desire to increase your profitability and change the amount of time you spend doing everything yourself, without busting your current overheads?

If the answer is, ‘Yes’ you might like to consider EVE (Electronic Virtual Employee), the complete dive centre management software package created by ISSYS (Integrated Scuba Systems). You can also take advantage of EVE Online – a package that offers eBusiness software solutions that are easy to implement.
Designed in conjunction with PADI Dive Centres, and partnered by PADI, EVE is here.

EVE is potentially the best keep secret in the industry today maybe because current users are keen to keep the great advantages that EVE offers them to themselves. Don’t let them get away with it!
To find out all about EVE and what it can do for you visit www.issys.co.uk or call James Rogers , Group Manager Sales and Field Service, Tel: 00 44(0)117 300 7315. Email is good too - james.rogers@padi.co.uk

PADI Member Forum News

Member Forums for the region have taken place in Dahab and Sharm El Sheikh. Over 100 members from the Sinai attended these events hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Dahab and the Sheraton Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh.

These events provided a chance for members to talk to the Regional Manager face to face and to share in the success the region has achieved during 2008. Areas that were covered during the event included a review of PADI performance in Egypt and surrounding areas, together with a look at the new products that will be available during 2009. The popular standards quiz was also included to test and update members on the current standards. Prizes were awarded to numerous individuals who’s standards knowledge was exemplary. Information was also shared on the changes affecting PADI members in Egypt, covering the involvement of the CDWS and the role of the new PADI Snorkel Guide. So if you don't know the answers to the following questions come along

Are the Enriched Air tables going away?
What is this 120-page instructor manual I heard about?
Do all PADI Instructors have to be EFR Instructors?

These questions and more will be answered at PADI Member Forum 2009! So check the schedule listed in the January blog for dates and locations. The program runs about two hours and is offered at no charge. Tea and coffee will be provided. If you're working towards Master Instructor, it counts towards your three required seminars.

PADI Russian Distribution Centre

PADI Russian Distribution Centre in Leading Position in Russian Diving Industry

28th January 2009 - The Head of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology in Russia has officially confirmed that Irina Beresneva, Director of the PADI Russian Distribution Centre (RDC), has been appointed Chairperson of the Russian Diving and Related Services ISO Working Group.

Through their close co-operation, the RDC has persuaded the Russian authorities to translate and adopt the recreational diving ISO standards, thus securing the recognition of PADI credentials in the region, and establishing a national standard. The RDC has additionally secured the secretariat role for this very influential committee; a tribute to their contribution to the Russian diving industry.

About PADI Russian Distribution Centre
PADI Russian Distribution Centre is representing PADI, the world’s largest recreational dive training, certification and membership organisation in Russia and CIS countries. RDC translates PADI educational materials and aids into Russian, provides informational and consultative assistance to PADI members and conducts ecological, educational, leisure and marketing programmes aimed at the development and promotion of diving.
For more information, visit www.divelife.ru or padi.com (Russian version).

23 New Emergency First Response Instructor Trainers (EFRIT’s) celebrate their success

PADI Members and EFR Instructors recently attended the one day Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer programme held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Members from Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Cyprus and Egypt travelled to the Sinai to attended the event held at the Marriott Hotel in Na'ama Bay. Completing the course will enable the new EFR Instructor Trainers to teach the wide variety of EFR programmes to Instructor level. Many see this qualification as a means to expand their EFR programmes to non-diving markets, within the Tourism, Oil and Gas industries. We wish them the very best of success for the future!

Ever thought of becoming becoming an Emergency First Response Instructor or Instructor Trainer?
To find out more, why not visit the Emergency First Response website at http://www.emergencyfirstresponse.com/ or if you are a PADI member visit the Emergency First Response Pros site via the PADI Pros website http://www.padimembers.com/login. Just want a chat? then contact you local Dive Centre or PADI office.

Proven ways to conduct a Confined Water DSD experience

I have found the following method of running a Discover Scuba experience to be extremely beneficial in converting the participant to an entry-level certification. I recommend the following guide for the pool or confined water experience only, not when including the DSD from a boat as the first dive.

If you run DSD's, pool or confined water, free of charge, I would recommend that you rather give a voucher with a monetary value to it. To avoid any problems with the voucher, I would recommend that you include the wording, Not Redeemable for cash or any other scuba dives/experiences. This will allow you to approach hotels and other businesses to give their clients and staff the voucher.

The best method to guarantee a conversion is to conduct all Open Water courses as DSD’s. How it works – You have a scheduled Open Water course starting and you combined any DSD bookings with this programmes. You start the day with the DSD briefing and follow with the confined experience, conducting the skills of Confined One of the Open Water Diver course. After a break you follow with the Open Water Dive One. Once completed you take all the participants back to the classroom, to complete academic session one and quiz. At the end of this session you congratulate all the participants and remind the Open Water students of the plan for the following day, additionally you clarify that the DSD participants only require an additional day to become qualified Scuba Divers. This does work!

Conducting the DSD Experience:

Allocate staff both topside and for the confined water;

Topside:

The primary role of topside staff is that of sales, so they need the necessary skills to close the sale. I would recommend that they are familiar with our DVD “Positive Approach Selling”.

Make sure you have fresh, clean towels for any participants that may hove forgotten them. Have hot coffee or a cold drink/fresh water available for each participant.

Each participant needs a personal debriefing; make sure you have Crew-paks or a computer with internet connection (eLearning) to sign them onto the next stage of their next adventure.

Either you can use this opportunity to present them with their certificate or if you have a group of divers, it is better to have a small “certificate ceremony.”

Make sure that you have a photograph taken of each participant and tell him or her that they can pick it up from your dive centre the next day. If you do not close the sale the same day, you have a further opportunity to close it when they collect the photograph. Portable photographic printers are now reasonably inexpensive and worth having in you dive centre for this reason.

Confined Water:

The key is to make the experience as enjoyable as possible and although this sounds obvious, many Divemasters/instructors who have been diving all day are sometimes reluctant to run these very important sessions. You need to find some way to motivate your staff to make this a once in a lifetime experience.

Make sure you have some toys to play with. Assist each participant with putting on his or her scuba equipment. Let the participants get comfortable as you directly supervise them breathing underwater and swimming around the shallow end before you take them into deep water. Unless you are taking the candidate on the DSD Open Water Dive, I would recommend that you do not teach mask clearing, as I have often seen DSD programmes with low conversion ratios to entry level because instructors try to go through too many skills when not conducting the DSD Open Water Dive.

Once your candidate is comfortable and they are smiling, it is my opinion that the experience is over, they are hooked and most susceptible to signing onto an entry-level course. Some participants may need slightly longer than other to get comfortable in the water.

You should now be ready to exit the water and join the topside staff in order to assist with personal debriefs, sign the certificates and register the DSD participants online.